“I want us to regain the respect this office deserves,” he said. “If people, especially the ones that didn’t support me or were not behind me, just take a look and see if you see any changes.”

With less than a month under his belt, Greene is already making changes. He says with eight new hires just on Monday, the sheriff’s office is up to around 90%staffing for the first time in years.

“Finally back up just about to full staff,” he said. “Along with that, going back to where we have lack of equipment, it’s hard to even get cars together for these folks to use to work with. Like I said, we’ve got to have the tools or we’re dead in the water. There’s nothing we can do.”

With the help of a federal grant, Greene says they have already gotten high-water trucks, generators and other equipment to use during hurricanes, something he says they were completely without.

Plus, he says they are getting brand new computers and patrol cars.

“We’re bringing the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office into the 21st century,” he said.

Greene also introduced the Heavy Enforcement Action Team to help build his deputies’ presence in the community.

As for his critics, Greene has said the same thing all along.

“This is where I was born and raised,” he said. “This is where I live. This is where I’m going to die. Columbus County.”

Greene says he’s just getting started, but he cannot do it alone.

“It’s not I,” he said. “It’s not Jody Greene. It’s the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office.”

Greene says he wants Columbus County to be a place that everybody can be proud of.